Going Nuts For Almond Butter

I’ve had a revelation recently… I love almond butter. I love it SO much. And maybe I’m behind on the trendy healthy food alternative train but I’m making up lost time for eating it for every meal. I’m allergic to peanut butter so I’m so so curious about what it tastes like and this is the closest I’ll ever get 😦

One problem though: One thing of Justin’s is literally $12 too much for a college gal so I figured it would be worth a try to make my own … and then prayed this wouldn’t turn out like the marshmallows (and that I wouldn’t destroy my mother’s food processor).

There are a million and one recipes out there for almond butter so I, having no experience, had no idea what to pick. I ended up picking the one with the most maple syrup because YUM.

Let me preface by saying this is the most aggressive recipe in the world. When they say you have to process it for a long while, they MEAN a long while. AND not only process but pick the food processor up and shake it and hit it and turn it upside down and everything except throw it across the room just to turn almonds into a cream with as little as possible extra oil.

(Recipe adapted from Running with Spoons )

2 cups raw almonds

6 tbsp. Maple syrup

Pinch of sea salt

4-5 tsp coconut oil

Optional: 1 tsp. Ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 325 F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Stir maple syrup and almonds together so that every almond is solidly coated and then pour onto parchment paper so that they are all flat and not bunched up. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway.

3. Remove the pan from the oven and let the almonds cool for about 10 minutes. You want them to still be warm. They smell like heaven.

4. Pour the almonds into your food processor and pulse to begin breaking them down. I added the 4 teaspoons of oil right off the bat so that the process might go faster, but let me tell ya, it didn’t. I went home to use my family’s food process and after the first 20 minutes of food processing, I was kicked outside to the back patio. After another 10 minutes, I was exiled to the garage because it was still too loud from the patio. After another 20 minutes, it was finally creamy (don’t forget to occasionally stop the processor and scrape the sides).

5. Add salt and cinnamon, and continue processing until it’s as creamy as you like. I say the cinnamon is optional because it slightly overwhelmed the almond taste.

6. Throw the mess into a mason jar and eat on everything and anything.

Now, some of you might be thinking that homemade almond butter is not worth this much effort, but oh my gosh… this is the best almond butter I have ever had. The texture is out of this world and the taste is so good that I had to run through the house to find my mom to make her taste it. Totally unreal and completely natural and only 4-5 ingredients.